RCAML earlier had a miniscule 1.45 per cent stake in TV-18. But it said it had picked up a good 9,70,000 shares in TV-18 on November 7, taking its stake to 9.43 per cent.
While the markets had been quick to see a surge in activity in the scrip in the recent past, the deal indicates that the fund is bullish both on the company and on the television software sector, analysts said.
In fact, institutional interest in this scrip has been raising over the last month. The combined average daily volumes on this counter have doubled from 1.83 lakh shares in October to 3.79 lakh shares in November. The scrip price has vaulted from Rs 145.40 at the end of October to Rs 182.55 at close today.
TV18 operates the highly popular CNBC India business channel. TV 18 sells content to Television Eighteen Mauritius (TEM), which receives subscription revenues and sells 50 per cent of the advertising time to Indian advertisers.
For the half-year ended September 30, 2003, TV 18 reported improved sales of Rs 17.11 crore as against Rs 14.15 crore in the same period of last year.
But the pressure on advertising showed up in lower net profits which dropped from Rs 2.36 crore in the first two quarters last year to a meagre 0.92 crore this year.
